Aki no ta no ho no e ni kirau asagasumi itsue no kata ni aga koi yamamu

秋の田の穂の上に霧らふ朝霞
いつへの方に我が恋やまむ

Roma-ji: Aki no ta no ho no e ni kirau asagasumi itsue no kata ni aga koi yamamu
English Translation: Over the autumn
rice ears in the paddy fields
the morning haze hangs—
when, and in what direction,
will this love of mine clear off?
Meaning: Like the morning haze that hangs over the ripe ears of the autumn fields and will not lift, when will this love of mine ever come to an end?
Commentary: Book Two Love Poems 88

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Four poems composed by Empress Iwa no Hime in longing for the Emperor"
The poem overlays a love that will not clear onto the morning haze hanging over the rice ears of the autumn fields. The scene in the upper verse serves as a preface, and the lower verse states the feeling.
This is the fourth of the four poems Empress Iwa no Hime composed in longing for Emperor Nintoku; the authorship follows the headnote of the sequence. After wavering between going to meet him, dying, and resolving to wait, the sequence closes by settling into a brooding like haze that never lifts.
The author, Empress Iwa no Hime, was the daughter of Katsuragi no Sotsuhiko and the consort of Emperor Nintoku. The Kojiki and the Nihon shoki portray her as a fiercely jealous empress. The poems in this sequence are thought to have been composed by later poets and attributed to her.

The first line, "aki no ta no," presents the fields in the season of harvest. Poem 114 by Princess Tajima in this book also begins "aki no ta no" and likewise entrusts a lover's feelings to the ears of rice.
In the second line, "ho no e ni kirau," kirau means mist lying thickly and continuously, with fu marking continuation.
The preface runs through the third line, "asagasumi," leading to a longing that never clears. It is notable that the word "haze" is used for an autumn scene.
The fourth line, "itsue no kata ni," means "about when, in which direction," translating the uncertainty of time into a sense of direction.
In the final line, "aga koi yamamu," mu expresses conjecture and answers the "when" of the fourth line, closing the sequence with the lament: when will my love ever cease?
Author: Empress Iwa no Hime
Source: Manyoshu
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